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Tres Chic Veronique

 

Mint Mojito Hederas

Hederas in the wild
One of my summer subway/lunchtime knitting projects has been Hedera socks, using the second installment of the Yarntini Sock Club, a variegated sock yarn made of 50% tencel and 50% superwash wool in the colorway Mint Mojito. This blend was just the thing for summer knitting. These socks have been completed for a little while, but had been waiting for the perfect photo op: an apple orchard near Rhinebeck!
I chose the Hedera pattern after drooling over Jessica's nearly identical socks: they are lacey, but there's only 2 lace rows, and they are easily memorizable (full disclosure: I still screwed them up here and there and had to rip back. *sigh*).
Hedera closeup
I used size 1 Crystal Palace needles, the only dpns that don't break. Seriously, I've broken all the wood dpns I've ever used, but bamboo rocks! And I'm afraid that with metal dpns, the needles would just glide out and be scattered all over the subway. Somehow, somewhere, I got tired of magic loop...
Jonagold?

Next up: a completed Ruffled Jacket, with matching armwarmers (because the elbow-length sleeves left my forearms cold).

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By Veronique
On Monday, October 29, 2007
At 10/29/2007 03:49:00 PM


 
 

Obligatory Rhinebeck Post

I don't know about you, but I love reading about Rhinebeck over and over. I'm just so curious to find out what treasures knitbloggers have discovered, and I never tire of sheep, alpaca, llama and angora bunny photos.
Like this:
Snobby Llama
It's a snobby polka dot llama! It's tough to look snooty when your name is Cookie Dough, but if anyone can do it, this llama can.

I had a great time this year, and forced myself to do more than just shop. Because after a while, all the undyed farm wool looks the same from one booth to the next...

Here's what stood out for me:
Hanging out with Brainylady Alison, sheep shearing (check out my slide show), the Windy Valley Muskox stand (specifically this lace pattern that was *sob* sold out), Green Mountain Spinnery's New Mexico Organic yarn (which has a thumbs up review on Knitter's Review--so I got 8 skeins), eating apple crip, "french" artichokes (even though I have no clue what makes them french) and lamb kebabs, sheep dog trials, dogs catching frisbees, and petting these cashmere goats.

The drive on the Taconic parkway saturday morning was beautiful and relaxing:
Taconic Parkway
The ride back on sunday evening? Not so much...
Embossed Leaves
Yep, bumper to bumper traffic all the way to NYC... Good thing a knitter is never bored (unfortunately, the same cannot be said for drivers). During the 85 mile trip from New Paltz which took 3.5 hours, I finished one Embossed Leaves sock! Oh, and check out the cube bag I bought a while back from Cathy (aka Schrodinger). She sold the Spiders her first batch of cubes before putting them up on her Etsy store. We unanimously adored them, and sure enough, they've been selling out pretty quickly :)

Next up: an FO photoshoot in an apple orchard.

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By Veronique
On Wednesday, October 24, 2007
At 10/24/2007 01:18:00 PM


 
 

Wow, you really like orange!

If you can believe it, this has been the very first contest on my blog. I was surprised and happy to see my comment box explode! I've discovered quite a few new blogs too, which is always a blast. So thanks to all my readers who have delurked to participate!

And the winner is.....

----drumroll---

Emma, from StitchnSue!

Emma suggested using my Fuzzy Navel colored yarn to make Drunken Bees, a pattern by DomestiCat. This brilliant idea really cracked me up. Bees getting drunk on Fuzzy navels! Hee hee! Emma, this 260 yds skein of merino sport weight sock yarn with matching lip gloss will be on its way to you shortly.

The pattern that was on everyone's mind though (mine too), is Flint Knits' Marigold (<--pdf link). Am I the only one who thinks that it looks even better in self-striping yarn? (Check out Katie's version and Sandra's if you're not convinced). The only thing keeping me from casting on right away is the difficult problem of choosing the perfect yarn. I have a choice of Vesper's Strange Little Mama, Yarntini's Chocolatini and Mimosa...

By the way, like most of the east coast, I went to Rhinebeck this weekend! Oh so soft....
Pictures and stories for the next post.

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By Veronique
On Monday, October 22, 2007
At 10/22/2007 11:49:00 AM


 
 

Happy blogiversary to me!

ETA: Contest is now closed! Thanks for participating!


Happy blogiversary to me
Happy blogiversary to me
Happy blogiversary to meeee-eeee
Happy blogiversary to me!
2 years!

In order to celebrate, I'm having a little give-away. This traffic-cone orange yarn is the third installment of the Yarntini sock club from PureKnits. Whoever finds a fitting project for this unusually bright color (called Fuzzy Navel) wins the skein! There's also Yarntini Fuzzy Navel lip gloss!
Yarntini sock club-Fuzzy Navel

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By Veronique
On Wednesday, October 17, 2007
At 10/17/2007 04:09:00 PM


 
 

Yep, there's knitting going on...

All that sewing was a blast! I made all sorts of mistakes, I learned lots of new techniques and I even made a few wearable dresses. Along the way, I've somehow amassed a sewing pattern and fabric stash. (Did you know that Simplicity sells Built by Wendy patterns on sale and with free shipping?! Did you know that Purl Patchwork has beautiful fabrics? Oh wait, you knew that).

But now that it's Fall, I'm back to knitting. And I finally found the Perfect Fall Pattern: James Coviello's Ruffled Jacket #44 from this Fall's Vogue Knitting. It's made in heavy worsted yarn, so it's nice and warm, but it has very feminine details like cute cables and frilly edges. I swatched with Malabrigo (oh, Malabrigo!), and wouldn't you know, I got gauge! Well, almost... After an exhaustive online search for 7 skeins in the same dye lot (apparently I am not alone in my love of Malabrigo, 1426 Ravelers have stashed it), I finally made my purchase (in the color American Beauty) from More Than Yarn. I had never heard of them, and was hesitant to hand over a chunk of cash to an unknown company. They totally came through: not only is most of their stock on sale, but they also included a nail file with sheep printed on it, and teeny tiny knitting needles. Oh, and since they're in Jersey, I got my package in 2 days. (My only gripe is that my Addi lace needles were shipped separately and have disappeared, but they are responding to my emails).
Malabrigo on sale at MoreThanYarn
At 15 st per 4", I've whizzed through the sleeves, the back and one front. Unfortunately, this cardi has not one, but TWO edges. Sure, casting on 300+ stitches will not be fun, but I've convinced myself that it will be worth it. Right? Right. --Please remind me in about a week when I'm moaning and groaning about it.--
What's that? You want to see more of the back cables? It's true that you can barely see them in the postage stamp sized photo in VK... And that the chart in the magazine is wrong.
Ruffled Jacket #44 by James Coviello
(If this picture is not enough, you can check out the other Ruffled Jackets on Ravelry).

Finally, to prove that it's Fall (even though it's ~80 F), I baked a cake. Not just any cake, a Fig & Plum cake! I drooled when I saw the ADD knitter's pictures, so when my friend Liisa gave me figs from her fig tree (A fig tree! In NYC!), there was only one thing to do. My roommate and the blue scarf recipient approved.
Fig & Plum cake

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By Veronique
On Wednesday, October 03, 2007
At 10/03/2007 04:09:00 PM


 
 

The last summer dress.

My goal this summer has been to make 3 dresses for myself. After the success of my Black Heart dress and the Fishies dress, I thought I had gotten the hang of this summer dress thing. Well. That was until I decided to make the very popular Butterick Misses' Wrap Dress. Others have made very cute versions of this dress, so I thought I was on solid ground.
Butterick 4790 Wrap Dress
Pattern specs:
Pattern: Butterick 4790, reissue of a vintage pattern. Purchased at Sav-A-Thon in Brooklyn.
Fabric: red with orange polka dots (4 yds) and solid orange (1 yd), purchased during a massive fabric binge at Purl Patchwork.
Notions: Lots and lots of red bias tape (4 or 5 yds), purchased in the garment district. No zipper!
Notes: I made no mods to this pattern, and the fit is terrible. The construction of this dress is such that I'm not sure how to fix it. It is too big in the bust, waist and neckline. The heavy full skirt pulls on the shoulder seam. It is awkward to wear 2 half skirts. The orange underskirt has a tendency to scooch itself towards the front, and the 2 red fronts get blown back as you walk. I haven't flashed anyone though (but have gotten pretty close)!
I was so discouraged that I didn't go for a full photoshoot. This pic was taken at the Central Park lake, on a row boat. Do you remember the exchange that I had with my friend Sarah? I made her a dress, and she took me on a row boat. She even rowed the whole time!

The only thing about this dress that I'm happy about is the discovery of the hemmer foot on my sewing machine! If I'd chosen to hem by hand, I'd still be hemming this full skirt right now. I started this dress on tuesday night to wear to a date on wednesday night (Feist at the MacCarren Park Pool!), so thank you hemmer foot!

Next up: finished socks and a Fall sweater project...

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By Veronique
On Tuesday, October 02, 2007
At 10/02/2007 12:57:00 PM